This lot contains an incredibly rare 1914 B18 Felt Baseball Blanket near set (54 different players with 9 duplicates) produced by various tobacco brands including Egyptienne and Straights Cigarettes (American Tobacco Company). These vintage felts feature an infield surrounded by base paths with a baseball player at center flanked by two pennants. Each base is marked with a ball (1st), catcher's mask (2nd), glove (3rd) and crossed bats (home). The back of each 5-1/4” square felt shows a reverse image of the front. The felts were folded into fourths and fastened to a tobacco product and are referred to as blankets because they were intended to be sewn together to create blankets, bed covers, pillowcases, etc. Sometimes overlooked by collectors, B18s are recognized by sophisticated hobbyists for their aesthetics, scarcity and preservable value as compared with other 1910-era baseball tobacco issues.
A complete set is comprised of 90 players from 10 different teams -- each team typically having a similar color scheme with regards to the bases, base paths, pennants and infield (according to The Standard Catalog checklist); some have one or two variations. The felt blankets in this well-preserved collection remain in exceptional condition, highlighted by 7 Hall of Famers: Ty Cobb NM-MT, Frank "Home Run" Baker EX-MT, Stan Coveleski NM-MT, Rabbit Maranville NM-MT, Miller Huggins NM-MT, Bobby Wallace NM and Walter Johnson NM. The majority fall in the EX to NM range, which is remarkable for items made over a century ago. Simply put, you won't find a better conditioned collection out there, especially one boasting such fine examples of the Georgia Peach and Big Train!
Team breakdown:
(8) Detroit Tigers - all blue bases, green paths & green pennants: 2 Del Gainer [Gainor], Paddy Baumann [Bauman], Ray Demmitt and Ty Cobb (HOF) with white infield; Marty Kavanagh [Cavanaugh], Frank Baker (HOF) and Stan Coveleski (HOF) with tan infield.
(10) St. Louis Browns - all gray bases, gray pennants & white infield: 2 Dee Walsh, 3 Sam Agnew, Bill McAllester [McAllister] and Bobby Wallace (HOF) with red paths ; 2 Del Pratt and Gus Williams with purple paths.
(5) St. Louis Cardinals - white infield: Chief Wilson, Slim Sallee and Miller Huggins (HOF) with green bases, purple paths & purple pennants; Bill Steele and Possum Whitted with purple bases, yellow paths & yellow pennants.
(4) Cleveland Naps - white infield: Willie Mitchell, Terry Turner and Johnny Bassler with purple bases, green paths & purple pennants; Ray Chapman with yellow bases, green paths & yellow pennants.
(8) New York Giants - all red bases, red pennants & white infield: Larry Doyle (1912 MVP) NM-MT, Chief Meyers, Jeff Tesreau, Hooks Wiltse EX-MT and Red Murray with green paths; Eddie Grant, George Burns and Art Fletcher with tan paths.
(11) Washington Senators - all red paths & white infield: 2 Danny Moeller, 2 Ray Morgan, Howie Shanks, Chick Gandil, Eddie Ainsmith, Eddie Foster and George McBride with green bases & green pennants; Clyde Milan and Walter Johnson (HOF) with tan bases & tan pennants.
(8) Pittsburgh Pirates - all gray paths & white infield: 3 Billy Kelly [Kelley], Babe Adams EX-MT and George Gibson with red bases paths & red pennants; Marty O'Toole, Jim Viox and Mike Mowrey with purple bases & purple pennants.
(8) Boston Braves - all green bases, blue paths & green pennants: Hank Gowdy, Bert Whaling, Tommy Griffith, Bill James, Fred Tyler, Joe Connolly and Rabbit Maranville (HOF) with white infield; Les Mann with tan infield.
(1) New York Yankees: Luke Boone with red bases, tan paths, tan pennants and blue infield.